I rarely braided for shows growing up, and had to relearn last year when I got back into showing. Personally, I find it satisfying and kind of fun; I just wish I didn’t have to make so many freaking braids! I thought it might be helpful for others, and a good exercise for myself, to note the steps involved in braiding a mane (tails are a different story–I’m terrible at those).

Steps to braid a mane

Supplies needed:

  • yarn the same color as your horse’s mane, cut into strands about a foot long
  • mane comb
  • hair clip
  • latch-hook (you can find these at craft stores)
  • scissors

Steps:

  1. Begin with a clean, but not overly conditioned (too much conditioner makes the hair slippery) mane, pulled to about 3-4″ (I was always taught that the mane should be the length of a mane comb held vertically, but I could never get a mane that short!)
  2. Starting at the top of the neck, gather a small section of hair. Keep in mind that the smaller the section, the more braids you’ll have to do to finish the entire mane; but smaller braids look neater and allow a little more room for error than larger, more spaced out braids. Clip the next section of mane out of the way.
  3. Start braiding the hair evenly and flat down the horse’s neck. Halfway down the braid, add in a yarn strand: loop the yarn around the back of the braid and hold half the strand in with the left-most portion of the braid, and the other half in with the right-most portion of the braid. (This is where I usually get messed up–the fiddling around to get the yarn added in makes me lose the tension in the first half of the braid.)
  4. Maintaining the same tension as you had for the first half of the braid, continue braiding down working the yarn in with the hair.
  5. When you reach the bottom of the braid, pinch it with one hand and knot the yarn around the end of the braid by bringing the ends together, looping the yarn around the braid, and pulling the ends through the loop towards you.
  6. Finish braiding the mane down in this way, making sure to maintain the same size sections down the neck.
  7. After the mane is completely braided down, start at the top again and pull each braid up: push the latch-hook through the top of the braid and down behind it, hooking the yarn at the end of the braid. Pull the end of the yarn up and through the top of the braid, so that the end is flush against the top of the braid, but not poking through.
  8. Take the ends of the yarn, cross them behind the braid, and tie a double knot in the middle of the braid. Cut the yarn close to the knot.
  9. Last, braid the forelock. A french braid looks best here, but otherwise use the same technique described above.
  10. If you braid the night before the competition, you may want to protect your hard work with a Sleazy. Those were new to me when I re-entered the showing world last year, and I still crack up every time I see one of the horses, especially the little ponies, at my barn wearing one. They are like little superheroes!

I looked around for some good pictures and found a very nice site with step-by-step instructions. They even have a link to an equally excellent article on tail braiding.

Here’s another nice, descriptive set of instructions.

Now that I’m feeling good about my braiding skills, the show season is over and I have the winter to forget everything I know. I can now rest easy knowing that I can refer to these sites in the Spring for a refresher!